Category: Other

Using the Workshop Activity

The Workshop activity in Moodle allows the collection, review, and peer assessment of students’ work.

First, watch this short video introducing the workshop activity:

Then watch this video about setting up the workshop activity:

To explore how the Workshop Activity looks in a demonstration course, click on this link while logged into Moodle, and then enter the code ‘Trinity@1823’. You will then be enrolled as a teacher in a demonstration course, that includes explanatory videos, documentation and sample workshop activities.

Using Zoom in Moodle

If you want to use Zoom with your class you may want to use the Zoom tool in Moodle to make it easier for your students to join the meetings.

When you create a meeting in Moodle the students will see those meeting links right in Moodle. If you create the meeting using the Zoom webpage or App you will have to share the meeting information separately using email or a calendar invite. Using the Zoom tool saves you that extra step and makes finding the link easier for students so they don’t have to dig through emails. Continue reading “Using Zoom in Moodle”

Collecting student observations using the Feedback activity

Feedback activities are the most efficient method within Moodle for collecting observations from students about the course, topics or specific assignments. This feedback can be set to have names attached or be done anonymously, and uses many of the same question methods as quizzes, allowing instructors to provide a variety of multiple-choice or open-ended responses. The results can be restricted to teacher-view only, or shown to the entire class. It differs from the Survey tool in that  it allows you to write your own questions, rather than choose from a list of pre-written questions, and unlike Moodle Quizzes, you can create non-graded questions. Continue reading “Collecting student observations using the Feedback activity”

Using the Moodle Scheduler

If your class uses Moodle regularly, the Scheduler plugin is very useful for setting up appointments with students in your class, either individually or in groups.

Start by turning on editing in Moodle, and then click on ‘Add an activity or resource.’ In the box under Activities, choose Scheduler and click ‘Add.’

A new page will appear called ‘Adding a new Scheduler’ where you enter in a name (required). This page contains numerous options for setting up the appointments, including limiting how many times a student can make an appointment, whether there will be a grade assigned, and if appointments can be made by groups. Note that if you decide to use groups, the group assignments will need to be defined under Course Administration, and this plugin requires that the teacher or teaching assistant be a member of each group.

Once you have finished with the settings, click on ‘Save and display’ located at the bottom of the page.

To set up the times for the appointments, click on ‘Add slots.’ Under the drop-down, you can choose to add a single slot or repeated slots. The repeated slots option is recommended for setting up blocks of time where students can make appointments. Choose the appropriate days of the week, start and end times of the appointment block, and then the duration of the appointment (typically 15 or 30 minutes.) You can also activate a setting where an automatic email reminder will be sent to the student before the appointment. Once you have created the appointments, then click on ‘Save changes’ at the bottom of the page.

Students will see a listing of the available times (as shown below), where they use the “Book slot’ button to make an appointment. Additional time slots can be added by the instructor at any time, and statistics summarizing the appointments can be easily viewed and exported. (It is worth mentioning, however, that the Scheduler does not sync with calendar software, such as Outlook or Google Calendar.)

If you have any questions about using the Scheduler in Moodle, please contact your Instructional Technologist.